Real Deals: Debt Uncovered

The Drawdown is joined by Sarah Peasey, director of European ESG investing at Neuberger Berman, for a discussion on what ESG really means for each employee within the GP house. As sustainable regulation and technology continue to develop in tandem, more and more GPs are looking to define their internal ESG culture. We discuss how Neuberger Berman created a culture of ESG, from the training employees can access to the importance of an independent ESG advisory council, among other initiatives.

Real Deals is joined by Lukas Ingelheim and Dan Bender, co-founders at Code & Co, and Peter Waleczek, managing partner at Flex Capital, for a case study on how the GP and tech due diligence provider are working together. As technical due diligence evolves, Code & Co highlights exactly what its work entails and the red flags it looks out for, plus how it differs from IT due diligence, digital due diligence, or cyber due diligence.

Real Deals editor Greg Gille is joined by David Wardrop, partner at Rutland Partners, to discuss how investors can break through to owner-managers and start building that relationship on the best possible footing. This encompasses a lot - from the industry's public image and educating the business community at large pre-deal, to eventually building a direct relationship and that crucial phase in the first few months post-deal, where the step change for management teams can be daunting. David covers all this, and more, based on Rutland's experience working with owner-managers on transformational deals. Real Deals would like to thank Rutland Partners for sponsoring and contributing to this episode of the podcast.

The past two years have highlighted the importance of good liquidity management in private capital funds. The ability to quickly provide liquidity to portfolio companies and / or investors is an absolute necessity for private capital fund CFOs. Fast forward to today - CFOs also have to contend with a rising interest rate and high inflation environment. Against this backdrop, we caught up with Jeremy Slade of Hazeltree to find out: How are private fund CFOs evolving their approach to liquidity management?

Talya Misiri speaks with Michael Preston, partner at Cleary Gottlieb about the increased interest in sport by PE, one of the most successful PE-backed sports deals, how PE can manage reputational risks around these transactions and more.

Sam Fuller, managing director at Houlihan Lokey and Miles Otway, partner at Connection Capital, speak with Real Deals about the rise of trade buyers and how GPs are setting themselves up to win assets in competitive processes.

Michele Giddens, co-CEO at Bridges Fund Management and Sharon Johnson, COO of AgilityEco speak with Real Deals about the just transition and how it is being used in practice.

Real Deals is joined by Erik Osmundsen, partner at Verdane and Beth Houghton, partner & head of Impact Fund at Palatine, to discuss whether embedding an ESG strategy into portfolio companies can contribute to driving a higher price, and better returns, at point of exit.

Sam Marsh of Alpha FX interviews Steve Darrington, partner and CFO of Phoenix Equity Partners, to find out about the most important lessons he has learned. Steve draws on a rich array of experiences from his corporate, private equity and poker lives. He details his approach to risk management, walking the line between optimism and realism, and thinking the unthinkable.

Real Deals speaks to Susan Fadil and Bill Prew, (JTC), and James Newman, (Perform Due Diligence), on the importance of having corporate governance at the top of the business agenda.

Following on from the Tech Transformation Survey, in partnership with IQ-EQ, The Drawdown brought together a select group of PE and VC tech practitioners to discuss the findings and latest developments in private equity operating technology. Joining the discussion are: Mike Brogan of Hg Chase Paxton of NGP Energy Capital Management Stephen Lile of Oxbridge Capital Partners Petros Farah of Vickers Venture Partners Hugh Stacey of IQ-EQ.

Real Deals editor Talya Misiri speaks with Elliot Refson, head of funds at Jersey Finance, about substance rules and what funds need to consider.

Real Deals editor Talya Misiri speaks with Rutland Partners partner David Wardrop and HCC CEO Julian Aitken about how the carve-out of HCC was navigated and how value creation opportunities were identified and executed.

N4 Partners joins Real Deals to explore how mental wellbeing and human performance can be an important value creation driver in private equity

Alice Murray speaks to Treabhor Mac Eochaidh, Executive Director at MUFG Investor Services, Head of Debt Services, who takes us on a journey through space and time, beginning with the asset class's early days following the retrenchment of the banks in response to the 2008 downturn. We explore the ways in which direct lending has developed across different regions: in the US, Europe and APAC. And we consider the market's current condition; with the onset of advanced technologies, big data and continued demand from investors.

Is it the end of the “green-boom”? Real Deals is joined by Richard Burrett, chief sustainability officer at Earth Capital and Sharadiya Dasgupta, founding partner at Blue Dot Capital, to discuss ESG reporting during and post-pandemic and whether maintaining regulatory ESG activity is sustainable.

Lending activity has rebounded strongly following COVID disruption, with borrowers once again able to secure favourable pricing and attractive terms in a competitive market. In a recent roundtable hosted by Real Deals a panel of lenders and advisers discussed the drivers behind the recovery, how lenders are navigating competitive situations to find value and the outlook for debt markets over the next 12 to 18 months.

Real Deals looks at the broader implications of the converging private capital market.

In a recent podcast, Real Deals spoke to Rutland Partners investment director Jason Birt and Woodall Nicholson CTO John Randerson on creating value through innovation and green energy initiatives at the portfolio company.

Real Deals' roundtable explored private debt's emergent role in a post-pandemic market. Here are some of the key themes that were discussed. Market growth Debt funds vs banks ESG

Real Deals is joined by Eve Ellis, partner at Ropes and Gray, and Dani Williams, senior principal consultant and ESG advisory team member at ACA Group, to discuss the challenges GPs and LPs are facing with the new SFDR regulation, how investors have reacted and what to expect from Level 2 in 2022.

Kirkland & Ellis Nordic Capital Aztec Group FSN Capital Campbell Lutyens A group of experts discussing the impact of Covid-19 on current fundraising, remote fund launches, fund structuring and set up, investor onboarding in the current climate and the difference between pre and post-pandemic fundraising.

In a recent roundtable hosted by Real Deals, a group of due diligence professionals and fund managers discussed the evolution of DD in the last year and how DD assessments have a vital role to play in value creation. Armstrong CG Consultancy Confidas People JTC Group onefourzero Group RPS Group WA Communications

Do GPs need to specialise to stand out or can firms can still succeed in the current market as generalist investors?

Mike Dickey, head of product development MUFG Investor Services and Hamish Mair, managing director and head of the private equity team, BMO Global Asset Management (EMEA), examine the impact of initiatives such as the ILPA template on reporting, the ways in which information is disseminated, new technologies and what total standardisation would mean for LPs.

Real Deals speaks to Matthew Finnie, Chief Technology Officer of Drax on the increasing appetite for portfolio company management diligence

Mike Dickey, head of product development MUFG Investor Services and Hamish Mair, managing director and head of the private equity team, BMO Global Asset Management (EMEA), discuss the challenges of moving away from Excel and PDFs; the proliferation of side-letters and their impact on reporting and transparency, and ways in which technological solutions are helping.

Private equity dealmakers have adjusted to lockdown restrictions and continued to close transactions at pace. Lenders have responded in kind and demonstrated an ongoing willingness to structure and execute financing to meet the requirements of their clients. Annual ABL Roundtable hosted by Real Deals, lenders, and advisers discuss how the ABL offer has fared through the pandemic period and what ABL lenders can bring to the table to deliver for private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies.

Secondaries are here to stay in 2021. While the exit market remains comparatively slow to exit levels pre-Covid, it is expected that secondaries will remain a preferred option for GPs and LPs alike. The secondary market bounced back fairly quickly after the first lockdown last year, with GP-led situations being particularly popular. This year, GP-leds, in particular, are expected to be an option of choice again, both for LPs who want liquidity and their GP counterparts who don’t yet want to sell the portfolio companies at a suboptimal time in the market for valuations. Secondaries funds have had to adapt and in the past 12 months, and we have continued to see this segment of the market remains resilient and continuously evolving. In this roundtable, we will discuss: the response of the secondaries market to the pandemic, the growth in GP-led solutions, the evolution of the market, and predictions on the next big thing for secondaries.

In a recent Real Deals roundtable, a panel of experts discussed how Brexit has and will affect the private equity industry, with a focus on deals, portfolio company management, investor queries and more. See more at realdeals.eu.com

Real Deals speaks to IPEM CEO Antoine Colson and O2B Films founder Olivier de Bannes on IPEM's upcoming documentary that focuses on the Covid-19 pandemic and our industry’s response to it.

A panel of senior ABL lenders, advisers, and GPs discuss how ABL providers are positioning their offerings in post-Covid M&A processes and how ABLs and their clients have steered through an uncertain and volatile market.

Support for fast-growth companies throughout the cycle Tackling the finance gap with companies from breakeven to £1m EBITDA Getting to grips with ARR-style funding Cross-origination for PE houses looking for new deals

In today’s programme we are going to have an in-depth discussion on the trend of sector specialisation. Sector specialism has become a decisive differentiator for managers when executing deals and LPs appear to be pivoting towards sector specialists in greater numbers. But why is this? Do sector specialists deliver superior returns? How do LPs allocate capital by sector, on what criteria are sector specialists assessed, and what happens when there are long-term shifts in sector performance?

The current environment is nothing new for special situations investors and their advisors; but the macro-economic crisis has given special situations investors a lot to consider. In a recent roundtable, a group of experts discussed the current deal environment, CVAs, corporate carve-outs, and how government support slowdowns will impact the special sits market going forward.

Alice Murray talks to Troy Pospisil, founder and CEO of InCloudCounsel about the future - specifically how the regulatory landscape for private capital funds is evolving, how investor demands are changing and how InCloudCounsel's offerings aim to support these developments.

The evolution of due diligence, the shift in manager focus on DD pre-deal in a post-COVID era and what will be the new normal DD agenda.

Alice Murray talks to Troy Pospisil, founder and CEO of InCloudCounsel about what it is, how it works and how it supports private equity legal teams, as well as the wider organization.

Alice Murray talks to Troy Pospisil, founder and CEO of InCloudCounsel about the company's origins: what drove him to set up the firm and how it has developed over the past seven years.

In today’s third instalment of the series, we are going to take an in-depth look at the evolution of the European LP base and what this means for managers. The European investor base has evolved from local pockets of LPs supporting domestic managers into a diverse mix of investors with different objectives, priorities, and manager selection criteria. Here to guide us through to explain how and why the investors base has changed I am joined by two guests – podcast regular and MVision founder Mounir Guen and Jim Strang who, who chairs the EMEA investment committee for global private markets investor Hamilton Lane.

At the start of the Covid-19 crisis, governments announced a wave of loans to assist businesses through economic uncertainty. Now, as the pandemic has progressed and the support schemes have become more sophisticated, what are the longer-term ramifications for these businesses and the wider economy?

Real Deals Tech Podcast The pandemic has left a variety of market sectors in disarray. Technology companies, especially those in digitisation and enterprise software, are proving to be among the most resilient investments, projected to return some of the highest exit multiples in the current environment. Once wary of tech, an increasing number of PE firms are looking to move into what has become a robust place to invest. Joining us on the Real Deal Tech discussion: David Barbour, managing partner at FPE Capital Jonathan Simnett, technology M&A dealmaker and marketer at Hampleton Partners Brian Parker, head of M&A at ICON Corporate Finance Darran Green, partner at Rockpool Investments

Alice Murray talks to Mike Dickey, head of product at MUFG Investor Services, about the data flow of ESG information between GP and LP. While not a new topic for private equity, ESG has received more attention since the onset of the pandemic. Dickey discusses the push and pull between GPs and their LPs when it comes to sharing ESG information. He observes the variances between some GPs resistant to providing more data that isn't readily available, and others looking for ways to use ESG as a value driver. He details the difficulties involved with reporting on ESG due to difficult to reach information and a lack of standardisation. But points out that the increasing popularity of impact funds will likely push for better guidelines.

Covid-19 has turned the dynamics in acquisition finance markets upside down. In a recent Real Deals roundtable discussion, a group of GPs, lenders, and advisers dialed in to discuss the changes in the market and how lenders and borrowers are reacting.

Alice Murray talks to Mike Dickey, head of product at MUFG Investor Services, about how GPs are managing their third party relationships, focusing on increased oversight efforts As we enter the sixth month of continued lockdown restrictions, the longer-lasting effects of the pandemic are starting to be felt. One notable impact on private equity firms has been the acknowledgement of needing strong partners. Prior to the pandemic, there was a lingering sense of ambivalence around outsourcing: should everything be kept in house? What functions suit being outsourced? How much control or access should third parties have? Now, sentiment has shifted rapidly, with PE firms needing to focus their time and attention on existing investments and on communicating effectively and consistently with LPs. Working with trusted partners when it comes to non-core functions is a no brainer. So with the outsourcing debate seemingly slipping away, how can operational leaders make sure they're getting the best out of their partners?

What does it take to raise a fund in a market still trying to make sense of the coronavirus? We will be discussing this and large-cap buyout managers with Mounir ''Moose'' Guen, CEO of MVision and Jussi Saarinen, Partner at EQT in today's podcast.

Private equity firms have a variety of value creation tools to draw on, but none are as important as the management teams they partner with. Ben Slatter, a partner at Rutland Partners, and Mark Andrews, CEO of Rutland portfolio company Armitage Pet Care, discuss how they work together to grow earnings and add

Our third and final instalment of The Drawdown's conversation with RFA's George Ralph looks as LP expectations when it comes to data management and ways to boost transparency. According to Ralph, LPs are typically only focusing on a GP's data and tech infrastructure during ODD exercises, and DD consultants are looking more closely at how the firm is set up. While the ODD exercise only provides a snapshot of the GP's tech infrastructure, firms developing and improving their systems and data applications are doing so in a more transparent manner, with increased capabilities for sharing development work with investors throughout the life of the fund. Advances in technology mean there are a growing number of tools providing greater visibility of the underlying systems and data flows, which can then be shared among stakeholders.

This second instalment discusses data warehousing, the infrastructure that sits around it, data governance, data ingestion, data analytics and how these components impact cybersecurity. According to Ralph, it's more important than ever to understand these elements well. He places particular importance on the compliance part of data management, ensuring only the necessary people have access to the systems. Ralph shares his deep technical expertise on how to protect data management systems from cyber threats. He also discusses various configurations in terms of working with partners and third party providers.

Data and the various ways in which private equity can apply it has become a hugely important topic in light of the recent disruption. While the industry is well aware of the advantages that data applications can bring about - across all functions (deal doing, portfolio monitoring, fundraising and operations) - the highly nuanced nature of private equity has meant that it's more challenging to apply generic software and technologies seen in adjacent industries. This first instalment explores the nuances of developing data strategies, depending on the firm's size, focus and willingness to adopt new technologies. We also discuss mindsets needed and common cultural barriers to integrating data applications, as well as the importance of collaboration and selecting the right partners to work with. If you only need a sentence for the description: use this: This first instalment explores the nuances of developing data strategies, depending on the firm's size, focus and willingness to adopt new technologies.

Private capital funds have been diligently upgrading and improving their data, digital and technological infrastructure in recent years. With these kinds of projects often requiring lengthy implementations, migrations and staff training - many GPs find themselves unsure as to how to progress with upgrades and changes previously planned, but likely put on hold due to Coronavirus. Danny Trentacosta of MUFG Investor Services sits down with The Drawdown Editor Alice Murray to discuss why now is the perfect time for operational leaders to return to and reassess their upgrade plans.